HOUSTON – Stephen Curry had an instant reply when asked Friday if he’d be surprised if he’s unable to play Sunday in Game 4 of the Warriors-Rockets playoff series.
“Very,” he said.
After participating in 3-on-3 drills Friday afternoon, Curry said he felt no ill effects and expects to be on the court Sunday – even though he conceded he has “no idea” if he’ll be cleared by what has become a panel of coaches, executives, medical staffers and training staffers.
“They have my best interest,” Curry said. “But it’s kind of hard to take that advice and sit out. It’s just a tough feeling. So you just stick to the process and hopefully Sunday I can get as close to 100 percent as possible and get (clearance) from everybody that I’m ready to go.”
Asked if he was pain free, Curry said, “Pretty close.”
Asked if there was anything he wanted to do but couldn’t, Curry joked, “Make more shots,” before adding he felt no restrictions on his movements.
“I did pretty much everything in a confined situation,” he said. “I didn’t do much up-and-down, full court. Every move I tried, I had pretty good confidence. I thought about my ankle, but that’s human nature. I got through it.”
This was Curry’s first actual practice since he tweaked his right ankle in the second quarter of Game 1 last Saturday. Curry attempted to return for Game 2 but backed off after experiencing too much discomfort during his pregame warm-up routine.
After advancing to light shooting and game-like movements during shootaround on Thursday morning, Curry made an initial attempt to play in Game 3 but was persuaded not to by team officials.
Curry’s first real test came Friday and it seems he passed.
“He did a pretty good shooting workout afterward and reported no pain,” coach Steve Kerr said. “He seemed to be moving well. All of that is good news.
“We’ll see how he responds (Friday night and Saturday). Hopefully, tomorrow, without any repercussions, we’ll put him through the full practice and get him another day of rhythm and see how it goes.”
Curry said it felt good to work up a sweat in competition and that he hopes to do even more when the team goes through a 5-on-5 scrimmage Saturday.
For now, he’s just happy to be back on the court with his teammates.
“It’s normal practice protocol for guys coming back off injury and guys that don’t get a ton of minutes to come in and get some 3-on-3 work,” Curry said. “It was a good session. I played a couple games, got some rhythm and got through it.”
